An important thing about Elon Musk that’s widely known in tech circles but perhaps not in the larger world: he’s kind of an idiot.
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Paul Cantrellreplied to The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus last edited by
@LambdaCalculus
The link I posted appears to already be paywall-free — was for me, anyway — but I appreciate the archive link too. -
@hsolerkalinovski
It is very much “widespread knowledge,” and I've heard from enough people with direct experience of him to back that up as more than rumor. -
@chu @shannonpersists
Something I'm always saying as a teacher is that the student is •always• the one who does the learning. All we can do is provide good challenges, good support, and a rich environment. -
@zauberlaus
I prefer the approach of clear communication about expectations and tradeoffs, but that's why I'm in engineering and not sales, I guess. -
- Comparisons to Edison (credit for others' work) and Marconi (same but extra-fashy) and Howard Hughes (unhinged from reality) are all apt, but I think all the above were quite a bit brighter than Musk. Same with my Barnum comparison. And on that note, @hugoestr makes a good point:
https://functional.cafe/@hugoestr/113535006880063784 -
- Comparisons to Miles Bron are, of course, dead on target. I was •amazed• when I saw that movie that Rian Johnson wrote it •before• Musk purchased Twitter.
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@inthehands while the sources are not open for scrutiny, what value do they have?
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@hsolerkalinovski
That's a good question! What value does uncertain information information have? The answer is not “none.” What is it?I'm muting you now, but do think about it on your own time.
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- Finally, shout out to everyone in the replies who managed to pivot this into a “bUt THe dEmoCRatS” train of thought. Good job! I'm impressed at your dedication!
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@inthehands i think it was john byrne's lex luthor that was based on donald trump actually lol
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@inthehands
You're missing the other side of PT Barnum. He doesn't just con investors. He, forgive me, inspires. He makes people believe in the impossible.I had a boss like this once. I, who've never met a deadline in my life, never missed one when I worked for him. Things I wasn't able to learn in school I managed to teach myself. Being enmeshed with him made me believe I could run through walls and I often succeeded.
Lots of damaged people at SpaceX like me worked miracles because of him.
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@cam
Wait, really?! -
@kims
I think that's the most credible argument circulating for him actually having a positive effect.What I've heard from people who worked close to him was much more along the lines of “omfg, that guy, get me away.” But yeah, there is something to believe that you’re a part of something big. Drinking the Kool-Aid really can be a source of motivation.
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@inthehands
It wasn't about drinking Kool-Aid. I didn't believe in the work I was doing, in fact I talked about how unimportant it was all the time.What I did believe in—what he made me believe in—was my own unlimited potential. I'd never felt that way before and I haven't felt it since.
I told my therapist that it was like someone took my DNA and created a motivation drug perfectly formulated just for me. It was amazing and incredible and I miss it all the time. But it was also toxic.
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@kims
Ah, yeah, sorry, I was thinking of something really different when I first replied. What you describe there is a wild experience I've managed to spend most of my life avoiding. Is it the “tough coach” phenomenon? Is the thrill of trying to please someone who is almost but not quite impossible to please, the thrill of seeking approval? Is it simply the experience of being in close proximity a sociopath? -
@inthehands So when #Musk says hydrogen powered cars are not practical I should ignore him?
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@inthehands
It's a repetition compulsion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetition_compulsion#:~:text=Repetition%20compulsion%20is%20the%20unconscious,is%20likely%20to%20occur%20again.We can have intense schema chemistry with people who remind us toxic people in our past who we subconsciously want to heal from.
It’s these people who give us a boost of energy, help us self-activate, feel inspired and temporarily confident, etc., while also threatening our fears of abandonment.
If (like me) you grew up with an authoritarian parent, a boss like Musk is better than amphetamines. And, inevitably, just as toxic.
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@inthehands I observed that Elon is excellent at convincing tech people to work for him. Either by communicating a vision (often stolen from sci-fi), or by providing attractive incentives. It’s the real tech nerds that get the things done. Plus he’s good at convincing money people to back his plays.
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@kims
Wow. Just wow.The layers of abuse.
